2009: The year in review

The second calendar year for the Ball Caps Blog is coming to a close, and I’m happy that I’ve sustained it for that long. Regular posting is the key to building blog traffic, the experts say, and my experience with this blog bears that out. In a couple of stretches I tried to post daily and nearly achieved that; my traffic climbed.

Even when I post sporadically, people come to this blog every day, usually via search engines. I never knew so many people were interested in the Wayne’s World cap.

My most popular post of the year? A May 25 post about the red baseball caps major league players were going to wear on Memorial Day and other federal holidays. That surprised me. It was a simple post, mainly pointing to an item on the Uniwatch blog about the caps. My post evidently was timed just right to coincide with Google searches.

When I started this blog in the summer of 2008, I initially focused on stories about the baseball caps in my personal collection dispersed throughout a couple of closets in the house. I blogged about nearly all of those caps (I’m saving a few for future posts) and began writing more broadly about the teams I follow. I’ve tried to touch on all major league baseball teams, but references to the teams I know the best — the Cleveland Indians and San Francisco Giants — get the most virtual ink. I’ve tried not to overdo it on any team; forgive me if I have.

Some of the most satisfying moments this year were when readers asked me questions and I was able to respond usefully. For example, one reader wanted to track down a U.S. Open golf cap for a relative and I pointed her to a limited selection still available, to her delight.

I look forward to developing this blog in the new year. To the hundreds of people who have stopped by the Ball Caps Blog this year, thanks for checking in. And have a terrific 2010!